Abstract
The stomach contents of females from the genus Culicoides were studied to determine their blood food sources and the degree of relations established between these insects and their hosts. The specimens were captured by using CDC light traps within the period from March 2009 to February 2010, in two rural towns in the island of Sao Luis, Maranhao, Brazil. A total of 930 engorged females were captured, belonging to 12 Culicoides species. Precipitin reaction examination was used, which revealed the blood from 7 different vertebrate types that had been sucked, and the most frequent were: bird (41.9%), rodent (21.2%), dog (15.4%), and human being (7.3%). In double reactions there was a predominance of bird/dog (20%) and dog/cat, dog/opossum, bird/rodent, opossum/rodent, and cat/human being (13.3% each). Among the Culicoides species found, C. paucienfuscatus Barbosa, 1947 stood out, because it only sucked blood from birds. The 11 remaining species have sucked blood both from domestic and synanthropic animals, and 4 out of them also sucked human blood. The results allowed us to conclude that C. paucienfuscatus showed specific relations, it was considered as ornithophilous and the other species were generalist. The presence of these animals in a peridomestic environment is a factor that favors the maintenance of Culicoides in rural villages and the presence of human being among the most sucked vertebrates indicates that besides being included in the diet of female Culicoides, it may participate in occasional epidemiological cycles of parasites, due to the eclectic habit of these insects.
Highlights
O gênero Culicoides Latreille constitui um grande grupo de dípteros nematóceros da família Ceratopogonidae, compreendendo 1.387 espécies distribuídas pelo mundo, sendo 1.343 existentes e 44 fósseis (BORKENT, 2014)
Na medida em que os vertebrados se aproximam ou coexistam no ambiente antropizado, alguns patógenos acabam afetando o ser humano, como se observa na região amazônica, onde surtos de infecção causados pelo vírus Oropouche são frequentes (TRAVASSOS DA ROSA et al, 1996)
As espécies de Culicoides com o maior número de indivíduos ingurgitados foram Culicoides boliviensis Spinelli & Wirt, 1984 (18%), seguida por C. ignacioi Forattini, 1957 (12,1%), C. leopodoi Ortiz, 1951b (12,1%), Culicoides sp.1 (11,6%), C. diabolicus Hoffman, 1925 (10,1%), C. iriartei Fox, 1952 (7,2%) e C. insignis Lutz, 1913 (6,8%)
Summary
As coletas foram realizadas no município de São José de Ribamar, Ilha de São Luís, Maranhão, nos povoados rurais de Santa Maria (02o38’795”S e 44o09’967”O) e Bom Jardim (02o37’680”S e 44o09’543”O). Os espécimes de Culicoides foram capturados com armadilhas luminosas tipo CDC, das 18h às 6h, sem interrupções, uma vez por mês, no período compreendido entre março de 2009 e fevereiro de 2010. Foram triados com o auxílio de estereomicroscópio Zeiss (10 a 50X) para separação de fêmeas ingurgitadas e, identiicação das espécies de Culicoides, utilizando-se chaves dicotômicas propostas por Wirth e Blanton (1973), Wirth et al (1988) e Spinelli et al (2005). Para determinação das fontes alimentares sanguíneas, as fêmeas de Culicoides foram analisadas através do teste de reação da precipitina na Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz – Rio de Janeiro), onde o tubo digestório dos espécimes foi triturado em solução salina a 0,85%. TABELA 1: Números de reações simples do teste de precipitina em fêmeas de Culicoides ingurgitadas, no município de São José de Ribamar – MA, Brasil, nos anos de 2009 e 2010
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